1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recording information in a primary medium while viewing information in at least one secondary medium selectively integral with the primary medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allowing educators to record lesson plans in an academic planner while viewing state academic standards recorded on secondary media selectively integral with the planner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many states have passed laws that have had a profound impact on how schools demonstrate accountability for their students' learning. By requiring the academic testing of students to ascertain whether the students' schools are preparing them to a state-mandated level of academic proficiency, these laws allow states to hold schools accountable for the academic achievement of their students. As a consequence, educators within these schools are also now held to a higher standard of performance and success than that which they have been held to in the past. In fact, an educator can lose his/her position if the educator's school is found not to have adequately prepared its students academically.
Some states require educators to ensure that their students are proficient in as many as eight different academic standards (the “academic standards” or “standards”), including, but not limited to: English, mathematics, science, fine arts, foreign language, physical education, social studies, and health. State boards of education adopt these academic standards and require that state schools teach their students in accordance with the standards. In order for educators to teach their students in accordance with the standards and to prepare them to meet the proficiency levels which the standards require, it is absolutely necessary for the educators to incorporate the standards into their lesson plans. Before educators can incorporate the standards into their lesson plans, the standards must be accessible to educators as they are preparing their lesson plans. Accessibility and academic standards, however, do not always go hand in hand, and the burden on educators to constantly locate the standards places educators at a disadvantage.
While different state laws now require educators to educate their students to the level of proficiency mandated in their respective academic standards, educators often have a hard time locating these standards for incorporation into their lesson plans. It is not always easy for an educator to obtain copies of academic standards which each state supplies to its multiple school systems. Often times, the standards are located at the schools' central office, library or on the internet. Principals may distribute the academic standards to all the educators, but the educator may not have their needed standards conveniently accessible. For all of these reasons, academic standards can be difficult to locate.
Once an educator originally locates the appropriate academic standards, the educator faces the problem of keeping track of the standard pertinent to the lesson plan the educator wishes to create. Many educators teach multiple subjects during the course of a day, and teaching multiple subjects means preparing lesson plans which conform to multiple academic standards. These educators find it difficult to keep track of all the academic standards which are necessary to create a lesson plan meeting their state's proficiency requirements. For example, an educator might teach math, science, English, and social studies every day. In order to prepare the appropriate lesson plan, the educator needs to access four academic standards, i.e., a standard for each subject. On any given day, however, the math academic standard might be in the educator's brief case, the English academic standard might be in the educator's car, the science academic standard might be in the educator's home, and the social studies academic standard might be located somewhere on the educator's desk. For an educator in this situation, it is very difficult to create lesson plans for each subject taught including the necessary standards. Numerous educators must also travel from classroom to classroom. It is cumbersome for these educators to gather multiple standards daily and carry them from classroom to classroom all day long.
What is needed in the art is an academic planner having selectively integrated state academic standards, wherein the academic standards are structured and arranged for concurrently viewing the academic standards while viewing and/or recording information in the academic planner to provide educators with all necessary tools for customizing and accessing state standards and successfully aligning daily lesson plans to said standards.